BEL, Thales JV Launches Radars Production For Indian Air Force

The joint venture of Bharat Electronics Ltd (BEL) and Thales has launched the production of radars for the Indian Air Force.

BEL holds a 74 per cent stake in the joint venture. Even as BEL has manufactured radars for the military, Thales’ main strengths are in systems engineering, integration and testing. The joint venture is currently focusing on Air Traffic Management Radars for both civilian and defence markets.

The joint venture focuses on the design, development, marketing, supply and support of civilian and select defence radars. It is also exploring the possibility of developing passive and multi static passive surveillance radar as futuristic Air Traffic Surveillance and Management, and Multi Target Tracking Radars for Naval Fire Control application, among other things.

“The initial product portfolio of BEL-Thales Systems Limited will comprise innovative solutions for air surveillance, including Air Traffic Management radars, and select ground based military radars,” said Antoine Caput, Vice-President and Country Director of Thales was quoted as saying in the Businessline newspaper.

“The ultimate objective of the joint venture is to expand its scope in fields such as defence electronics domain.” Caput added.

The company has operations in aerospace, transport, defence and security. Under earlier license deals with the French company, BEL has built Thales LW04, DA08 and ZW06 naval radars.

Thales will supply six of the 19 Ground Smarter low-level transportable radars that the Indian Air Force (IAF) has ordered from France, with the other 13 will be assembled in BEL’s facility at Ghaziabad.